As the fire raged through Rist Canyon, Ron and Denise Haines could only think about their animals -- 133 alpacas and six llamas they board at their Bellvue ranch.

"The primary concern was getting the animals out," said Ron Haines, co-owner with Denise of Daybreak Criations Alpacas in Bellvue. "They're defenseless. We're here to take care of them."

The couple were at one of the two livestock barns at The Ranch on Wednesday to check on their animals, which were grouped by the dozen in 10- by 10-foot stalls. They took the animals there after evacuating them early Sunday morning.

"Pretty much everything else we can replace, but we can't replace them," Denise Haines said, adding that the only personal items they grabbed were their laptops, hard drives and photo albums.

Coming together in disaster

The Haines' animals are among the more than 400 alpacas, llamas, goats, donkeys and horses that are being boarded at an evacuation center set up at The Ranch through the Larimer Humane Society.

Various animal groups and individuals are volunteering daily at the two livestock barns to feed the animals with donated grain and hay, clean their stalls and make sure they have enough water.

The Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital and local veterinarians are providing animal welfare checks and addressing any medical issues the animals are experiencing.

And the Larimer County Sheriff's Office posse is staffing the barns 24-7 to provide security.

"It just amazes me how people come together in a disaster to help out," said Dean Olson, a member of the sheriff's posse.

Jan Albin, who was staying in the guesthouse at the Haines' ranch, evacuated her and her husband's 27 alpacas.

"The animals were our priority, then it was our guard dogs. They didn't want to leave the animals," Albin said, while petting 10-month old Hurley Wurley, a male alpaca named for his jumpiness.

"A lot of these animals have never been off the farm. It's a huge stress factor," Albin said. "The stress shows up in the quality of their fibers."

Every day, Mary Andrea Johnson of Fort Collins visits her Arabian horse, a 22-year-old mare named Jayd, who shows signs of stress from being confined to a stall at The Ranch, she said.

"You're taking these horses out of their natural environment and putting them in a foreign environment," said Johnson, who normally boards her horse in LaPorte. "She's not taking the situation too well. She's scared."

Johnson brought in a familiar blue bucket and horse nuggets and carrots to feed Jayd and to calm her. She talked quietly while petting her flank for more soothing.

The Larimer Humane Society and the incident management team responding to the fire retrieved the animals, if the fire evacuees were unable to get to the animals or transport them. The large animals are housed at The Ranch and the small animals at the shelter in Fort Collins.

So far, the shelter has processed more than 250 animals, including dogs, cats, birds, a goat, reptiles and a tarantula. The animals are staying free of charge at the shelter or at animal facilities that offered to house them on a voluntary basis.

"The shelter is not at capacity," said Stephanie Ashley, marketing and outreach coordinator at the Larimer Humane Society. "If it does reach capacity, we have lined up partners to care for smaller animals."

Those partners include veterinarian clinics and boarding kennels, Ashley said.

To provide more space for the evacuees, the shelter relocated the majority of animals up for adoption in foster homes or placed them with other shelters or rescue groups, Ashley said. The animals in foster care -- there are 20 -- can still be adopted through the shelter's website, she said.

"Our shelter is a well-oiled machine from the top down," Ashley said. "As soon as we were getting in evacuated animals, we started working with foster families, transfer partners and volunteers to care for the animals coming in."

The shelter's volunteers signed up for extra shifts to walk and feed the animals and keep their kennels clean, Ashley said.

Each day, approximately 40 volunteers are helping, 25 more than normal.

The shelter received "an overwhelming amount of food supply for the animals" and now needs monetary donations to support the animals while at the shelter, Ashley said.

"This is a free service we're providing to the community. We need the community support to be able to provide that," she said.

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